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Health care reform could shake up a popular children’s insurance program.
Reuters

“It is surprising to me that Congress is looking at allowing CHIP to expire, especially with so little public discussion and dialogue,” Jocelyn Guyer, deputy executive director of Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families, wrote on the center’s blog last month. “From a policy and political perspective, there are enormous risks to dismantling a successful program that delivers affordable, high-quality care to millions of low-income children.”

The Finance Committee’s SCHIP proposal aims to maintain at least the same level of coverage, although families would have to go about getting those benefits in a different way.

Currently, parents whose children qualify sign them up through the states, where the benefits vary from one place to the next. Families enjoy very low costs — out-of-pocket health expenses are limited to 5 percent of income, advocates say.

In an overhauled system, parents would find a plan that covers both themselves and their children. They would first have to enroll their entire family in a plan found in a new government-organized insurance marketplace known as an exchange. If the level of benefits for their children is not comparable with what they received under SCHIP, parents would then need to apply through their state for “wraparound” coverage, which would supplement their family plan, according to Baucus’s office.

States would be required to provide the “wraparound” plan, aides said.

The House bill also moves children into the exchange once SCHIP expires. But Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) won committee approval for an amendment requiring the secretary of Health and Human Services to first certify that the coverage in the exchange is as good as or better than SCHIP.

Additionally, the Finance Committee proposal would require states to provide Medicaid-level benefits in their “wraparound” plan, which would mean more robust coverage than what is currently offered under SCHIP in many states, aides said.

But critics said the Finance Committee approach adds an extra step in an already-complicated system. Parents may not know their family insurance plan doesn’t provide the same benefits as SCHIP and that they need to apply for the “wraparound” coverage, advocates say.

“There are concerns about whether wraparounds work,” said Joan C. Alker, co-executive director of CCF. “A lot of times, families are not aware of the wraparound services or may not find it easy to take advantage of them.”

Plus, the limits on out-of-pocket expenses in plans offered in the exchange would be higher than those set under SCHIP.

“Comprehensive health care coverage for children should be non-negotiable,” said Sen. John Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), who has worked extensively with Baucus on SCHIP. “Today, millions of children receive the checkups and preventive exams they need only because of Medicaid and CHIP — federal programs that work. We should not experiment with the stable health care coverage children have today — children deserve special protections.”

Popular, excuse me, what ever happened to parent responsibility. i'ts not my responsibility to provide your kid breakfast, lunch, healthcare, food, transportation, babysitters, and on and on and on. THIS HAS GOT TO STOP. Can you say....WE ARE BROKE, NO MONEY. (*&*^#$&()&_&+)(